Jesuit Refugee Service has worked in Ethiopia since 1982. Currently we provide services for urban refugees in Addis Ababa; counseling, adult literacy and a variety of youth programs in the Melkadida and Kobe refugee camps for Somalis near Dollo Ado; programs for nearly 15,000 Eritrean refugees at the Mai Aini and Adi Harush refugee camps in the north.

(Washington, D.C.) July 19, 2011 — Despite heightened international awareness of the issues facing refugees in urban areas, serious barriers remain for organizations such as Jesuit Refugee Service seeking to help such refugees to meet their daily needs and to achieve long-term solutions.

Although all urban refugees share the same needs for legal protection, personal security, psychological and social support and, of course, shelter, food, medical care and education, the access to such assistance varies widely due to the attitudes of host governments and the availability of local resources.

In the current issue of The Refugee Voice we speak with refugees at the northern and southern ends of the African continent to learn how very different circumstances have led JRS to take different approaches to meeting their needs. This article focuses on Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, in the northeast corner, or "horn" of Africa, is surrounded by unrest. It maintains a tense relationship with its northern neighbor, Eritrea, which is the source of many refugees seeking to escape human rights abuses and military conscription. It also receives a constant flow of refugees seeking to escape the violence and political chaos of its eastern neighbor, Somalia. It hosts smaller numbers from Kenya, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the same time, Ethiopia is home to over 360,000 persons who have been internally displaced due to conflict or famine.

Faced with limited resources and enormous needs, the Ethiopian response to refugees has emphasized encampment, seeking to confine refugees to remote border areas, and to discourage their migration to the capital city, Addis Ababa. Life in the camps is harsh, however, with the poor living conditions, a lack of security and enforced idleness leading many refugees to defy government policies and to relocate to the capital.

Refugees in Addis Ababa generally have little access to local services or to permanent integration, and local groups are limited in the kinds of services they are permitted to provide.

JRS operates two programs in Addis Ababa. The refugee community center — the only one of its kind in the city — offers language courses, library facilities, day-care services, computer classes and psychosocial support. The emergency needs program offers financial support and counseling services. These programs provide not just help but hope to refugees struggling to survive today while maintaining their hope for a better future. That hope can be hard to come by.

Sabir al-Zebeir, a refugee from Sudan explains that he "left [Darfur] because in 2005 the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed militia attacked my village and burned everything down. … I tried to go to Chad, but government forces blocked the way; so I came to Ethiopia. When I came here I first went to a refugee camp, and was there almost two years. There was no security there and no services, so I came to Addis."

"JRS opened the community center because refugees living in Addis Ababa had nowhere to go. Refugees lose many things in their home countries, their friends, and their families. When they arrive [in a new country], they are very frustrated; this center is their home," said JRS Ethiopia country director Seyoum Asfaw. "They come to us, and talk to us. Our door is always open."

"From morning to night we don’t have anything, so we come here," Sabir said, grateful for the services and social interaction he is able to find at the community center. "We want to learn and we want to be in peace. But right now we have no education and we have no job."

"It wasn’t my choice," Laurent, a refugee from the Congo, said about his decision to come to Ethiopia "but I was trying to find a good safe place to settle. It’s something I cannot explain to you! You know, when you are running away from a danger … you don’t know how you will go away from it… I didn’t even prepare myself." He simply fled, and arrived in Ethiopia.

Laurent visits the JRS emergency needs program offices for assistance. "It’s very difficult to support yourself in this country, because the government does not authorize foreigners and refugees to work … when I have a serious problem I come here. You know, refugees, we have a lot of problems. There is nobody to advise us, and this is the only place where you can get advice on how to live as a refugee," Laurent said.

Each Friday the ENP office hosts a pastoral program, which provides group discussion and counseling for refugees. "Almost every Friday, I come here. This program is so helpful," said Laurent.

"I’m by myself. So I come to pray here, at the pastoral programs. The things in the Bible tell us why to keep our hearts [to keep hope]," added Vincent, another refugee from the DRC.

Because refugees in Addis seldom have access to, or can afford, local schools, JRS provides training programs in such skills as English and computer literacy.

Maano, a young woman from Somalia, is studying English for two reasons. First, she wants to be able to communicate to UNHCR and other authorities directly, without the use of an interpreter who might misrepresent what she says. Second, she told us she sees this as a step toward the future: "I hope to continue my education. I don’t think staying here would be safe for me. I hope to resettle in another country."

English language skills are sought-after by many refugees in the region who hope to either resettle to a third country or find more secure employment. Teacher Bethenhem Asrat said 50 to 60 people come to English classes at the JRS center.

"I need English because I will not always have this life. Sometime I may be living in another country," said Kimbareta Lissouba, a refugee from DRC who studies English at the JRS community center. "I like the center because if you are alone, or stuck at home it is very bad. But if you come here, and you can use the internet and … talk to others, it is very good," he added, echoing the feeling of many of the center’s clients.

• All governments should provide refugees within their territories the basic human rights enshrined in the UN Refugee Convention and other international human rights instruments, such as the right to freedom of movement, the right to documentation, the right to work and the right to seek an education. These rights should apply equally to those who choose to live in camps and to those in urban areas.

• Governments must both recognize refugee rights in national legislation and policy, and also ensure that governmental and non-governmental institutions understand and respect the rights of refugees to live in both urban and non-urban environments and to obtain access to basic services.

• Refugees residing in urban areas typically share all the needs of the urban poor, but face additional needs arising from their status as refugees. Non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations should recognize and respond to the special needs of refugees living in urban settings in order that they may fulfill their aspirations to become self-sufficient and contributing members of their host communities.